Thoughts on Retirement Planning for Men.

 

Men,

No one is coming to save us.

The day you turned 18 and left the comfort of your Mother’s house or whatever you left behind-it doesn’t matter, you signed up for life. From that point onwards you became responsible for yourself, your family and everything in between.

If your life follows a normal trajectory, you will spend the years between 25-60 working and taking care of your wife and children plus your extended family in some instances. What this means is you spend your most productive years fending for the people you care about.

If you are not careful or fail to plan for it, your woes are likely to start after 60.

While you toiled tirelessly in your good years, it is possible you lost something important which is creating a bond with your children. That is a dangerous place to be in.

Many men find themselves in that place where they are distant from their children and worse still with zero money to take care of themselves. That’s a potent combination. It partly explains why so many men die within 5-10 years after retirement.

If you left their mother as the present parent, she will have cemented her position in their hearts. If she is not a wise woman, she will use this to her advantage and sideline you. A wise woman will see to it that the children understand the significant role you play/played in their upbringing whether you were present or not.

Here is some advice on what you should do.

Strike a balance between your presents and presence. Your presents come in the form of your provisions and the goodies you send home while you are toiling far away from your kids. Your presence cannot be delegated or substituted. I know we live in tough times where every shilling counts. The bills are out of this world and you need to make enough to take care of your family but for your own sake, ensure you are intentional about creating time to be with the people who call you dad. If it takes a small drop in quality of life to ensure you are more present at home, go ahead and make it happen. Those formative years of your child’s life mean a lot to them and you in the long run. Be there for them.

Build your nest egg. Don’t play games with your retirement years. The needs then are many and you no longer have an active income to depend on. What you do in your active years has a bearing on how you live in the years of retirement. Invest enough in income generating assets to cover yourself financially. I help people in planning for retirement by discussing options available. I invite you to book a session with me here to discuss this all important matter while there is still time.

Be good to your wife and children. Especially if you are the predominant bread winner. In your active years, you are all powerful, after your active years, power shifts significantly. How you treated your wife and children when power was in your hands, determines how they will treat you when it shifts towards them. Keep a good record and they will defend you with their lives. They won’t let you suffer in the village while they chop life in the city.

Think about taking care of your family as a responsibility. Because it is. It is not an investment. You should not look at your children as an investment. Let their support for you in your old age be voluntary. This is why for every 5 shillings you spend on them, you need to spend 1 or 2 on yourself in the form of investing in your future. That way you secure the future even as you are taking care of the present.

Think from a posterity perspective. While we are debating how to take care of ourselves in retirement, the bible recommends that we plan even for the next generation. It should never be lost on you that you need to give the next generation a better platform to start from. It is a responsibility we carry and we must embrace it wholeheartedly. Prepare a financial and knowledge/experience package to pass on to your progeny. In case you do not know where to start, let’s explore options of getting this done together. Book a slot here.